This presentation will have a dual purpose. The first will be to tell the authors story of adopting an identified position within NSW Health. The second will investigate the notion of self stigma and how the author was able to deconstruct her own sense of alienation and shame through narrative therapy techniques. Peter Byrne would say: To stigmatize is to disgrace or discredit another and the author posits that to self stigmatize one has absorbed the naturalising truths of the dominant society and made them an individual truth. The narrative strategies used to deconstruct such notions include-thickening preferred stories, using experience near language, re-authoring conversations and developing a landscape of identity and a landscape of action.

The Authors experience in becoming a Peer worker has connected her to this idea of a need to externalise inner conversations. Firstly this is an identified position for someone who has had a ‘lived experience’ of mental distress (mental illness) which puts one inside a paradigm of a victim/ mental patient. Is she in a tokenistic role? A role designed to politically appease disgruntled consumers and carer’s within a system on the edge of collapse from chronic under-funding. The other story is of an insider worm dismantling power structures from within a system. Interestingly White (1990, page 9)describes the term “lived experience” as used by social scientists about information gathered by a direct experience of the world, it also asks the question how do we mediate this experience and give it an appropriate expression?
The author’s experience of working as a Peer Worker in NSW Health and her use of Narrative therapy techniques to expand notions of self hood and identity should give the audience an insider’s view on living in recovery and becoming able to share that deeply personal recovery in a professional setting.

Under the NDIS framework Peer Work is influencing positive change for people experiencing MH issues.
Peer Workers’ ‘innate awareness’ of mental health issues, coupled with their experiences of receiving MH services themselves, ideally positions them to be working in support/advocacy roles in the area of MH. Benefits are far-reaching, ranging from supporting people applying for NDIS funding through to quality service delivery. This support may lead to empowerment, recovery and independence and people exiting programs because they’ve achieved the recovery they wished for. This may not mean an absence of symptoms. Recovery has a broader definition in mental health especially under the NDIS where the ‘severe and enduring’ category pervades.

As Senior Peer worker with RichmondPRA I have listened to people share their stories, hopes and dreams. Recently after meeting with a person and their PIR Coordinator I received the following feedback – ‘Thanks very much for coming out to meet George and myself today. I have to say I have never seen George engage with anyone on a first meeting in such a relaxed and enthusiastic fashion as he did with yourself today – which is great.’
This paper will outline a Senior Peer worker’s role in the NDIS environment.

Open Dialogue developed in Finland over the last 30 years and is rapidly gaining respect and attention internationally. It is both a philosophical/theoretical approach (drawing on systemic family therapy, dialogical theory and social constructionism) to people experiencing a mental health crisis and their families/networks, and a system of care. Open Dialogue teams work to help those involved in a crisis situation to be together and to engage in dialogue. Experience has shown that if the family/team can bear the extreme emotion in a crisis situation, and tolerate the uncertainty, in time shared meaning emerges and healing is possible.

In New York, Open Dialogue is paired with Intentional Peer Support, in recognition of the crucial role of peers. A similar pairing is soon to begin London. Additionally, a 3-year training program in London has included 3 peer workers (including the presenter) to be trained as Open Dialogue practitioners as part of the clinical teams.

While there has been a great deal of interest in Open Dialogue in Australia, it is unclear how it will grow here and maintain fidelity while simultaneously being "needs adapted" to the Australian context. Flick will share her experience and reflections on Peer-supported Open Dialogue so far.

The Family Single Session and Open Dialogue models are both orientated towards transparent communication and encourage clients and families to drive decision making and treatment planning. The underpinning philosophies of these two models fit well to the vision of the headspace Early Youth Psychosis Program (hYEPP) which states:

“Enhanced headspace is friendly to young people and families. We will provide an accessible mental health service for young people struggling with hearing voices and unusual beliefs in partnership with the community. We will build on strengths and resilience, use the wisdom of lived experience and foster hope, potential and recovery.”

The service will develop aspects of the above mentioned models in providing a ‘needs-adapted’ service that has a framework for encounters with our clients and their close networks. This will include a set of Resource Questions being asked when arranging treatment meetings; Reflective conversations; flexibility and mobility; and transparency in discussing strengths, goals and treatment options.

This presentation will discuss the outcomes of a new model that takes its philosophy and practices from Open Dialogue and Single Session Family Work, and how this is implemented in a newly formed Mobile Assessment and Treatment Team (MATT) in Melbourne, Australia.

This clinical service, organisational and community development initiative will be of interest to public, private and consumer-led community mental health service providers and users.

Sage Health is a fee-free private mental health psychosocial practice in the Northern suburbs of Melbourne. Sage Health has engaged JazzMind, a consumer action research consultancy to assist us systemically inquire into future service and program growth and development opportunities.

Through participatory action research we have identified the following shared possibilities:
• adapting the Community Development Continuum to expand on clinical service delivery
• weaving Human Inquiry for Living Systems as a tool for Sage Health development
• investigating the possibility of reconstitution as a consumer-led cooperative;
• introducing and extending Open Dialogue and Family Therapy based practices;
• exploring and integrating trauma-informed therapeutic practices and strategies
• embracing alongsidedness (walking with) and co-liberation (healing together)
• incorporating transpersonal approaches along with other psychodynamic therapies
• partnering to achieve new transitional residential therapeutic community options
• providing people with a lived experience of mental illness with employment opportunities
• propagating social enterprises with people seeking meaningful community participation;

We will present on progress made in terms of adoption of any new directions and initiatives.

The Reading Groups are run in 2 community locations across the Liverpool and Fairfield area. The group is underpinned by UK research on the benefits of a structured read aloud group format in mental health settings

This group has been running for 3yrs and membership is consistent and growing. The group has developed its confidence in reading aloud, sharing and discussing issues from within the text and being able to reflect and share their own life experiences in a safe and supportive environment.

The literature is specifically chosen to reflect common life events that the readers may have experienced or are likely to experience.

The group has recently taken the steps to increase the participants commitment to the group buy them taking books home each week with identified text to read before the next week and the readers to initiate discussion topic that interest them.

It is also planned for some group members to progress on to volunteer for story reading to children with disabilities in the community.

Some books read, A Little Aloud various authors, Silas Marner George Elliot, The Hobbit JR Tolkien, 5 People you meet in Heaven Mitch Albom, The Happiest Refugee Anh Do.